


i internalize and i don't know why, but its taking it's toll

by tommyshepherdd (atimeforflores)



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Abuse of Authority, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Drug Use, Implied Past Abuse, Implied Past Child Abuse, Substance Abuse, cassie and tommy are bffs, teenagers with anger issues, tommy had ptsd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 18:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9397196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atimeforflores/pseuds/tommyshepherdd
Summary: "This isn't your goddamn playground." Tommy stopped struggling by then, almost sinking into Eli's grasp. He was muttering something under his breath, not making eye contact. "If you want to be part of this team, you need to earn your place."...Or five times someone yelled at Tommy, unaware of his past and the one time he yells back.





	

The first time it happens, Eli can still hear his own heart rattling in his chest. The anger coursed through his veins when he saw Tommy laying across the couch in Bishop Publishing, lounging as if the disaster of a mission didn’t just happen. The younger boy’s chest heaves as he laughs at something Cassie had muttered to him, ignoring the girl’s shocked look of satisfaction as he punches her lightly in the arm. 

 

The kid makes him mad. Something about his easy going nature and the way he seamlessly adjusted to part of their team makes Eli’s blood boil. It doesn’t help the way he stares at Kate, or the way he seems to attach himself to her side like an annoying parasite. 

 

Tommy, hands running through white hair and knocking away soot, laughing like he didn’t have a care in the world was truly the last straw.

 

It, in all honesty, wasn’t the worst mission they went on. Not like the fiasco that had Kate been held captive and the news looking for their blood. Not even like the time that Teddy got kidnapped and they had to locate the annoying urchin. But this time, more than any, a civilian had gotten hurt.

 

Tommy, of course, wasn’t the sole person responsible. They were a team afterall. But it was his inane chattering that had distracted Kate and let the guy elbow her in the face, then it was Tommy who wasn’t paying attention in time to catch the guy. For someone with superspeed, he sure had slow reflexes. By the time he had caught up to the criminal- just a teen in a ski mask who decided to rob a jewelry store -the guy had thrown an old woman out of her car and stolen it. The old lady had a fractured arm, and a few other minor abrasions. 

 

It still made Eli want to explode, however.

 

“Do you have  _ any  _ idea what you’ve done?” Eli said, slamming the door behind him as he marched up to the smaller teen and hauled him to his feet.

 

“Hey-!” Tommy yelped, struggling in Eli’s strong grip. Eli gritted his teeth and tightened his hand, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

 

“What the fuck were you doing?” Eli roared in return, shaking the boy just the slightest bit. Just, trying, to convey the seriousness of the situation. “You couldn’t be less professional if you tried, could you.”

 

Tommy shook his head, a stubborn set to his jaw. Or at least, that’s what Eli assumed. The sight just made him angrier.

 

“This isn’t your goddamn playground.” Tommy stopped struggling by then, almost sinking into Eli’s grasp. He was muttering something under his breath, not making eye contact. “If you want to be part of this team, you have to earn your place.”

 

Eli let him go then, surprised when the feisty teen didn’t get up and push him right back. Instead, Tommy seemed to deflate in on himself. Cassie stared at Eli, something like shock in her eyes. Her eyes then darted down at Tommy, where the boy was curling in on himself, cursing as he clutched at his arm. 

 

“What the hell?” She asked him, scrambling up from where she had been sitting on the couch. Gone was the relaxed atmosphere, and in its place was just tension and anger. 

 

Eli glared at her in return, daring her to challenge him, “He needs to learn.”

 

Cassie squared her shoulders, getting right into his face, “I don’t think some hothead like you should be the one to teach him anything.”

 

Eli bared his teeth, “Well then it’s a good thing that you’re not the one to decide that.”

 

Tommy, still quiet, whimpered from the ground, pushing himself onto his feet. “I’m fine, Cassie.” He told her through gritted teeth, face flushed.

 

Then, as if in slow motion, he began to strip off his suit. Out of everyone on the team, he wasn’t the shyest about showing off his body, his movements mechanical as if they were practiced a thousand times. 

 

Eli couldn’t help the startled gasp that came from his mouth when he saw the vivid bruise engulfing the pale skin of Tommy’s bicep. Eli knew in a vague sense that it matched his fingers but he still didn’t want to believe it. Tommy poked at it, hissing when he made contact. It was with a sickening realisation the moment that the speedster’s healing kicked in, the bruise lightening before it disappeared completely.

 

“See, good as new.” Tommy joked, voice shaking in an almost unnoticeable way. The goggles didn’t hide the suspicious sheen of wetness to his eyes.

 

Eli swallowed, trying to get past the lump in his throat. His heart was hammering in a different way, fists clenched and trying not to strike out. He couldn’t take this mistake out on Tommy. 

 

“Go fuck yourself.” Cassie spat out, startling both Eli and Tommy. Tommy looked hurt for the barest of moments before he noticed the way she stared intently at Eli. 

 

Eli didn’t answer, staring at Tommy’s bare skin. He hadn’t noticed before how many scars the younger male truly had. 

 

“If you ever touch him again,” Cassie said in a low, dangerous voice, “I’ll fucking put you through the wall. You’re not the only strong one here.”

 

She pulled Tommy’s suit back onto his shoulders, before gently leading him out of the room. 

  
Eli stood in silence for a few minutes longer, guilt eating him as he stood in the dark of the room. The pills in his pocket felt heavier than usual. They weren’t easy to swallow that night. 

**Author's Note:**

> hey yo, its me, here to start something i'll never finish. 
> 
> comments fuel me
> 
> on tumblr as gaysupersoldiers.tumblr.com


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